The effects of re-exposure to the original or a resembling context on episodic memory contextualization in healthy humans

Abstract

Memory contextualization is the process of storing an event in its encoding context, which is disrupted in anxiety disorders, and can result in fear overgeneralization. The current research aimed to test whether context re-exposure enhances contextualization of a fear memory. 45 healthy subjects were divided into three groups, and were shown contexts with angry faces. The following day, one group was re-exposed to the original contexts, one to resembling contexts, and the latter was the control group. The third day, participants were shown pictures of either old or new faces surrounded by the original, a resembling or a different context. Analyses compared the memory accuracy of the groups in different contexts, revealing that the memory of the participants re-exposed to the original context was more accurate on the trials showing the original and the resembling contexts than participants who viewed the resembling contexts the second day. This implicates that exposure to a resembling context diminishes the memory for the cue in its original and a resembling context. There were no statistically significant differences between the memory accuracy of the condition reviewing the original contexts on the second day and the control group, however, visual inspection of the results could indicate increased memory accuracy for the cue in a resembling context in the group that retrieved the original context. Possible explanations and options for further research are discussed.